Horticulture startup INI Farms raised $1.95 million from Aavishkaar Capital’s ESG First Fund. As per the startup, it will use the funds to achieve multifold growth, expand through the entire agriculture output business and leverage the current supply chain capabilities.
The startup aims at building a tech-driven global fruit brand in the name of Kimaye. Through its direct-to-consumer platform FruitRoute and other ecommerce channels, it serves the agro-markets of 35 countries. In India, the startup has offices in eight cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.
Pankaj Khandelwal and Purnima Khandelwal founded INI Farms in 2009 with the goal of achieving 100% disintermediation and less than 2% food waste due to supply chain delays.
INI Farms was acquired in cash and stock by B2B farm input startup Agrostar in 2022. The agreement gave INI access to an engaged digital farmer network of over 5 million users, as well as a retail network of over 2000 stores.
Purnima Khandelwal commented on the funding round, saying, “The agriculture story in India is poised for multi-fold growth.” We believe that large platforms that provide farmers with end-to-end services ranging from advisory to inputs to output offtake will drive this transformation.”
